Shots on Goal

Face Offs Won

The Harvard women's hockey team looks to rebound after a first-round loss. (Photo Courtesy of Elan Kawesch)

The Opening Faceoff The No. 6/6 Harvard women's hockey team looks to shake off a first-round loss to Northeastern last week, as the Crimson (18-3-3, 14-2-2 ECAC) is set for battle with Boston University (19-9-1, 12-5-0 WHEA) at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Beanpot Consolation at Conte Forum.

The First Line

Following the grueling matchup with Northeastern in the first round of the Beanpot on Tuesday, the Crimson bounced back with a solid win at Dartmouth on Friday. Behind a couple of spectacular individual performances, including Emerance Maschmeyer, who stopped 27-of-28 shots between the pipes, Harvard downed the Big Green, 4-1, in Hanover. Both Hillary Crowe and Miye D'Oench found the back of the net twice for the Crimson in the win.

With the victory over Dartmouth, Harvard is inching closer to securing both the ECAC and Ivy League crowns. Holding 30 points to its name, the Crimson still maintains a one-point lead over No. 6/5 Cornell in the conference standings, two ahead of upcoming foe No. 3/3 Clarkson. Within the Ancient Eight race, at 6-1-1 and two Ivy games left (against Yale and Brown on the road), Harvard sits just one game back of the Big Red at 7-1-1, who will face Princeton in its final regular season game of the year.

Harvard is set to face a Hockey East opponent for the seventh time this season. Even with the recent loss to Northeastern, the Crimson has enjoyed a fair amount of success against its regional nonconference mates, having gone 4-1-1 against Hockey East this season, including a 3-1 against BU on Nov. 22.

@HarvardWHockey Tweetables
Follow @HarvardCrimson, the official Twitter handle of Harvard Athletics, for all the latest news and notes on your favorite Crimson student-athletes and teams. Fans also are encouraged to follow @HarvardWHockey for all things Harvard women's hockey. Use the hashtag #GoCrimson to see what fans are saying about Crimson athletics.

.@HarvardWHockey will take on BU for the 18th time in #Beanpot history. #HH owns a 15-2 record against the Terriers.

.@HarvardWHockey still owns the best PK unit in the nation, having killed off 102-of-106 power plays this year. Conversely, #HH has 3 SHG.

.@Emerance_M is third in the nation in save percentage (.949), padding away 544 shots and allowing just 29 goals in 19 games.

A Quick Look at the Crimson
Though it has some great offensive firepower waiting in the wings, at 18-3-3 the Crimson has staked its claim as one of the best defensive teams in the country. As a squad, Harvard has allowed just 31 goals, second fewest in the country behind Wisconsin's 28.

As has been the case all season, Harvard's penalty kill has been its bread and butter, though it's not a situation the Crimson would like to be in. Halting 102-of-106 power plays this season (a 96.2-percent kill), Harvard has allowed the fewest goals while shorthanded (4) and has tacked on three tallies while down a skater.

Aside from Emerance Maschmeyer and Brianna Laing combining for 641 saves to just 31 goals allowed, including eight total shutouts in 18 wins, the Harvard defenders have stepped up their games as well. Sarah Edney and co-captain Marissa Gedman lead the charge with 59 and 57 blocks, respectively, just a testament to their ability to close the gap. Freshmen defenders Briana Mastel (39 blocks), Natasha Rachlin (18 blocks) and Robyn White (5 blocks) have also made the Crimson rotation one of the better units in the nation.

On the other side of the ice, a trio of Crimson skaters has buoyed the offensive attack, led by sophomore Miye D'Oench's 24 points on a team-best 14 goals with 10 assists. D'Oench also leads the team in game-winners (3) and unassisted scores (4). Playing in only 20 games this season, Hillary Crowe's 12 goals is good enough for second on the squad, notching a team-best five multi-score games.

Sophomore Mary Parker also has been on fire as of late, tallying six points in her last four games (4-2-6). Parker is third on Harvard with 11 goals, adding nine helpers to total 20 points. Also helping out on offense are juniors Samantha Reber and Sarah Edney. Reber leads the team with 14 assists this season, adding in five goals as the top-line center for 19 points. One of the best offensive-minded defenders in the country, Edney has been electric in finding the open stick, handing out 13 assists to go with her five goals (5-13-18) in the offensive zone. She leads Harvard with a +23 on the year and has racked up a pair of power play goals and a pair of game winners.

A Look at Boston University
Boston University comes into the Tuesday matinee with Harvard owning a 19-9-1, 12-5-0 in Hockey East play. The Terriers – once ranked as high as No. 8 this season – hit a rough patch midway through January and now are 3-5-0 in their last seven contests, including a 4-1 loss to Boston College in the first round of the Beanpot last week.

BU has a pair of scoring threats in Sarah Lefort and Louise Warren attacking the offensive zone. A sophomore this year, Lefort (22-18-40) leads the nation in goals per game (.90) and game-winning goals (8), while Warren (20-14-34) comes in at No. 4 in goals per game (.72).

In goal, Kerrin Sperry has been a rock for the Terriers, racking up 638 saves (.926) to 51 goals allowed (2.27 GAA) to earn a 15-7-1 record in 23 starts, including a pair of shutouts.

The Last Time They Met
When then-No. 5/6 Harvard faced off with then-No. 9/9 BU, the Crimson skated away with a 3-1 victory in the Bright-Landry Hockey Center. Senior Gina McDonald scored her first goal of the season, finding the back of the net just three minutes into the game. Samantha Reber eventually tallied the game-winner in the second, before Miye D'Oench added the third goal in the middle of the third period. With just under four minutes left, Rebecca Russo put one past Maschmeyer to avoid the shutout in the top-10 showdown.

Harvard vs. BU in the Beanpot
The Crimson is 15-2 all-time vs. the Terriers in the annual Beanpot tournament, including a 3-0 win in the consolation round last season. This will be just the fourth time BU and Harvard have met in the consolation round. In total, the two sides have played each other 11 times in the first-round, three times in the consolation and three times in the finals of the tournament.